KIERAN Trippier is expected to complete his move to Tottenham Hotspur this week.

There will be no bitterness surrounding his exit.

Such are the high standards the right back has hit since arriving in the summer of 2011 - initially on loan before making the permanent leap from Manchester City months later - there was a growing inevitability about it.

He took to the Premier League like a duck to water; gliding with relative ease down the right hand side, delivering the kind of crosses that will have the likes of Harry Kane salivating.

Having been named in the Championship team of the year for two years running he was never going to stay there for long.

He took a step back in leaving City in order to move forward, and he did not want to drop down there again.

Neither, of course, did Burnley, and it will be a damn sight harder to get back up without Trippier teeing up the chances.

Sean Dyche and his recruitment staff have the unenviable task of finding a replacement now, but they have already made a start on outlining options.

Dyche might only have confirmed yesterday that Spurs were in advanced talks with one of his star men - the day the fixtures for the new season were released - but they will have seen this coming.

As for Trippier, while there will be the obvious excitement surrounding his new chapter and challenge, he will leave Turf Moor with a heavy heart when it happens. Probably soon.

And that is one of the reasons why there will be few, if any, that do not wish the 24-year-old well.

The club and supporters desperately wish there was something they could do to stop their star man moving on. But in truth, no-one begrudges him.

He has earned it.

In three years at Turf Moor Trippier has honed his attacking attributes and improved the defensive side of his game to become the all-rounder that will thrive at the top level, not just next season but well beyond.

But not only has Trippier been a good player for Burnley - improving year on year - he is a likeable character too, both inside and outside the dressing room. What's more, he cares.

He has voluntarily got involved in the testimonial events of both Brian Jensen and, more recently, Michael Duff.

At the end of season awards, he made time for every supporter that had gathered at his table, long after the bulk of his team-mates had left.

As at the end Burnley's final game of last season, both he and Danny Ings were the last men standing.

The pair, poignantly, left the pitch together after the lap of appreciation for supporters.

They applauded fans on each side of Turf Moor and took their time to take it all in before they arrived back at the tunnel.

A similar age and stature with a penchant for tattoo art, they were like peas in a pod.

It is a blow to lose both.

But when it comes to boots left to be filled, Trippier's are bigger.